The following articles have been published translated into Spanish in our digital magazine "SHD Magazine". You can read the original English version of all of them here.

Interview: Shadowshifters On Huntsman: The Orphanage

Well, First of all, I want to thank you for this interview. Then, Could you please tell us a bit about yourselves and your studio?

Hi There and you’re very welcome!

Well, we’re a Kiwi family living in Australia who thought we’d have a go at developing a game after we heard that Steam Greenlight was on its way! So this is an absolute Indie-Noobie project and is continuing to be a real learning experience!

Dene has a background in visuals/ art direction, I’m a writer and our two youngest sons are both keen gamers and musicians so they were hugely instrumental as advisors. Toby inspired the theme music, Mac wrote and performed a couple of songs for the credits and both boys voice and video-act as Orphans in the game. Toby as Charley (the good orphan) and Mac as Rupert (the evil orphan)!

We also have a fantastic core tech/design team of one programmer, one 3D artist and one part-time animator! But we’ve also had loads of input from many talented people who have been keen to lend a hand to help the vision along.

What is Huntsman: The Orphanage all about?

Well, let’s see… back in 1898, 12 orphans mysteriously disappear from Grimhaven Orphanage without a trace. The orphanage caretaker swears that an unworldly beast took them, but his rantings aren’t believed by the authorities of the time. Fast forward to the present day and you as the player have heard about this creature ‘The Huntsman’ as his name keeps popping up all over the web. So you decide to do a little detective work and delve into the Huntsman myth and your research leads you to the old and long-since abandoned Grimhaven Orphanage in Illinois…

Why do you think horror fans should play it?

If you’re a horror fan who loves blood and guts and gore and high-speed shoot-em-ups then you probably SHOULDN’T play it!

‘Huntsman The Orphanage’ is a non-graphic-violence, no-gore horror game where you rely on your smartphone and your wits to save the 12 orphans who are trapped in an alternate thread of space and time.

But if you love getting goose-bumps and a chill up your spine from Creepy-Pasta type stories, if you enjoy sitting in the dark and listening to a good yarn, exploring, piecing together clues and navigating through a maze in the dark whilst being pursued by a monster from another dimension, then this is the game for you!

What were your biggest inspirations when making this game?

The short stories of Ray Bradbury and Poe, and the early films of Spielberg and Hitchcock.

Regarding that steampunk monster we can see in the cover of the game, what can you tell us about him? Where did the idea for his appearance come from?

Well as Kiwis living in Australian rainforest we’ve been pretty impressed with the wildlife - spiders included! The Huntsman spider is a jumper – it pounces on prey and moves so fast you

don’t even see it - so that was inspirational – along with its size. Some of these spiders need a bucket and chessboard to catch them – no glass is big enough!

Then there’s the mask – that came about from our idea that the Huntsman was first drawn to our planet during the times of the Black Plague – he was attracted to the intense human suffering and grief of the time. He wore a plague mask like the doctors of the time wore - the beak was stuffed with aromatic herbs to cover the stench of rotting corpses – but for the Huntsman it’s used as a disguise, along with the coat – he can crouch and cover himself quite well when he wants to (be warned!!).

The thing is the Huntsman is old, he’s been travelling across dimensions for a long time – and it takes its toll.

Can you give as an overview of the gameplay? What about game mechanics? How long will it take to complete it?

Huntsman: the Orphanage is a single-player non-linear game you explore in order to discover items that can save the missing orphans. We rely on story and atmosphere rather than complex game mechanics – (being a first-time tiny Indie team definitely had some bearing on this strategy – we had to focus on what we felt we could do well!) As Ernest Rutherford (the guy who split the atom – and a Kiwi!) once said “We have no money – therefore we must think!”

What element of the game do you think it makes Huntsman scary?

Your own imagination! It’s a primal thing. As humans we don’t feel particularly confident in a dark unfamiliar environment at the best of times! Combine that with being stalked by an-other-worldly predator whilst being contacted by the lost souls of orphans trapped in another dimension – (not all of whom can be trusted) and it’s not exactly setting you up for a relaxing evening!

Finally, Could you tell our readers when will the game be released and where we can buy it / pre-order it?

The Cat Lady and Downfall Interview with Remigiusz Michalski

Lunatika: Hi Rem. I would like to thank you for doing this interview. To get things started, I would like you to tell us a bit about yourself and how you became a game developer.

Well, I'm not really a game developer... I'm actually an auxiliary nurse. I make games in my spare time, in the corner of my living room. I would love for it to be my main job, but I'm still waiting for that "breakthrough" moment. Stellar reviews on adventure game websites and a bunch of gaming awards would lead some to believe that that is it, but sadly no- I remain a relatively unknown creator, with a small but growing fanbase.

Lunatika: Both of your games were developed with Adventure Game Studio (AGS). How did you get to know the engine? What are the benefits and disadvantages of using it?

AGS is an amazing engine, backed up by a huge community of developers and adventure game enthusiasts, always willing to help with testing, technical problems or... anything, really.

As most people who use it, I came across it by accident. It was a very long time ago (10 years?), when there wasn't really so many engines to choose from. Hell, I didn't even have internet connection at that point in life! It was handed to me on a home-made CD along with a bunch of other small programs.

I didn't think I could ever make a game- I used to assume games were made by elite groups of geniuses who studied programming all their lives... But it's not quite so. Yes, it helps, but at the same time- you have to know your strenghts and take advantage of them. For someone like me, a twenty something year old guy who never programmed a thing in his life, AGS opened a sea of possibilities- a whole new chapter in my life! Everything in AGS just made sense to me, and as the years went on and the engine improved and advanced I learned with it. The best thing about it is definitely how easy it is to get started. The worst?... Probably some graphical limitations regarding screen resolution and slowdowns caused by large numbers of sprites animating all at once. But I can live with that.

Lunatika: If you had had the possibility to develop the game using a powerful 3D engine, would you have done it? Why/Why not?

Yeah, I definitely would! As much as I love AGS, I love playing games of all genres. I'm a life-long "gamer", which means I appreciate great graphics too, and yeah, I played some games in my life just because they "looked" pretty!;) Being an indie developer doesn't mean I only believe in weird games that look like shit. It annoys me actually when devs tell everyone it's a metaphor of some sort and a making their game look shit was a deliberate choice... In some cases- maybe. But no. I don't believe in that. Games like The Path or Journey proved that you can make beautiful games on a small budget. In my case, of course, there is no budget at all to speak of... so instead of money I just spend a shitload of time working on them.

Also, since adventure games as a genre have enjoyed a small renaissance, there are games being made that look quite nice, with high res graphics and well-animated 3D characters but... nine times out of ten they kinda suck. Something is missing- whether it's interesting story or gameplay mechanics... I don't know. But they're just no fun for some reason! And it's sad, because if this continues adventure games will once more go into oblivion and we'll just carry on gunning down enemy soldiers in million-selling blockbuster FPS games until one day everyone will give up on games completely...

I wanted to make The Cat Lady more exciting. Too many adventure games put you in a room and ask of you to click on everything for an hour until you find the right thing you were supposed to click on and can proceed to the next room.That is not an awful lot of fun. Or maybe it's just me- maybe I don't like "classic" adventure games any more?... After Heavy Rain and The Walking Dead proved that the whole adventure game formula can be taken to the next level it's kinda hard to compete with that, but there are definitely lessons to be learned there, and personally, I think the most important one is this: leave point & click interface in the past, where it belongs. It's time to move on.

Lunatika: Regarding the voice acting, what do you think it adds to the whole experience of a game? Would you have liked Downfall to have voices too?

Voice acting changes everything. I didn't realize that until I heard it with my own ears- it was absolutely amazing to hear my characters speak and I loved every second spent making it happen. Most actors in The Cat Lady aren't actually actors at all. Maybe that's why it all sounds very... different from your usual video game. I often hear people say that the way characters speak in TCL is very down to earth, very much like normal people would speak in everyday life. There are no lectures about science and astronomy there, no history lessons and no nonsensical sci-fi jargon. Instead, there's a nurse who likes to moan about how tired she is and how no one really gets her, and a single-mother who hates her ex so much she cut his face out of every single photo... There's an old man who suffers from dementia but still remembers how his late wife liked her tea made, a gun-obsessed lunatic, and a beautiful girl who wears a wig to cover up her horrible illness. And by these examples, I think I'm trying to say that there's some very human characters there and some good drama, which provides an excellent opportunity for wannabe actors to shine.

And as for Downfall... Yeah, It would've been awesome with voice acting. I really believe it would've been a better game. But I'm not going back to Downfall, ever. I want to make new games, write new stories, about new characters. If an old face shows up every now and then in a little cameo- that's different. But being a one man semi-development studio... I just have no time to go back to old games, even if a lot of people asked about it.

GastlyPlayer: Why did you choose the horror genre as the vessel to both stories? Depression and suicide are subject matters that are not exclusive to horror fiction.

Sure, but I love horror!

Also, I think by adding horror elements to it I managed to make this story a bit more exciting and meaningful. Depression is a horrible thing to go through. Some never get better. Is there anything worse than being stuck in the prison of your own mind for a lifetime of suffering? That itself has horror written all over it.

Francisco: Downfall was a game you created alone, what did you learn from that experience? Do you think it would have been different if more people had helped in the creation process?

I think it would've been very different. I don't even know if I can work in a team because I've never done it and it doesn't look like I will any time soon... but I imagine that would involve a lot of planning (something I only do in my head and, occasionally, on little bits of paper that I lose very quickly). I actually tried looking for a team recently and the couple of people that got in touch were very enthusiastic but also very inexperienced and couldn't really show me anything that I'd like... And another thing that I'm aware of is that people quickly lose their enthusiasm, burn out and disappear, especially when it comes to a project that takes several years to complete. It's difficult to find someone you can trust, when all the work is done over the internet and when they lose interest they simply stop replying to your emails... It takes either extreme patience or lots of money to stay on one project for so long... and I haven't got any money, so... it seems most likely things will stay as they are for now. Maybe that's better. If there's one thing I learned it's that you can only trust yourself.

Max: Which feelings do you expect the gamers have experienced while playing Downfall and The Cat Lady?

I can't say I had any expectations for that (as most of what I do is a bit of a shot in the dark), but watching people play The Cat Lady on YouTube I see lots of interesting emotions the game evokes. It's hard to list them all- everyone's perception of my games will be a little different, but I like seeing that impact they have and I like to play with people's expectations. The best example is probably this guy YouTuber called Falpatrick, who at the end of his LP just burst into tears, knowing that he made a wrong choice, with fatal consequences, by letting his anger take over. It was pure and beautiful and I think he was pretty embarrassed by crying in front of a camera... but it proved to me that people can feel very strongly about my work of fiction and get very immersed in it. Which is exactly what I want!

Lunatika: Can The Cat Lady and Downfall be understood as part of the same series? Do the stories take place in the same universe? Or were Joe and the Queen of Maggots appearances in The Cat Lady just easter eggs/cameos?

A bit of both really. Inclusion of some old characters is there mostly for the old fans but it's not necessary to have played Downfall to understand what's happening in The Cat Lady. It's just a flavour, a little surprise to those who remember who Joe Davis was. It was also a chance for me to present those characters in a different light, from a different perspective, which was kinda fun. The stories do take place in the same universe and I will continue to expand on it. It is very reminiscent of our real world, and yet it's got that unique feel to it. It's very British, very dark, and somehow despite of all horrible things that happen in it, full of dark humour and references to modern culture. I'd say it's my take on England, as seen through the eyes of a foreigner.

Lunatika: Regarding the characters, why did you decide to feature a protagonist as Susan? A suicidal woman in her forties qualifies as unique and original, for sure.

I was looking for a a very different kind of protagonist. Not someone people could identify with instantly (because how many 40 year old women play games, really?) but someone who'd grow on you slowly and eventually make you realize that she is not unlike you in many ways. It was a long shot and I was surprised how players really cared about Susan in the end and how she grew as a person throughout the game.

Also- I know it's a bit silly- after playing Metal Gear Solid 4 I started thinking how cool that was to play as an old man with a moustache. It was a kind of hero we've never seen before in a game. I wanted to do something similar. A hero you never thought could be cool. But they are.

Lunatika: The way The Cat Lady’s story unfolds reminds me of some of David Lynch’s films. Are you familiar with his work? Are you also a fan of horror movies? Which ones are your favorites?

I really enjoyed Lynch's Lost Highway and I suppose it was amongst many inspirations for The Cat Lady, if only for the atmosphere and symbolic use of images. But I watch a lot of films, and yes, mostly horror films, and mostly new stuff. I'm not sure what it says about me as a film fan, but I find it hard to get into movies that are more than twenty years old... Although with so many new films being made all the time I don't really see the reason to go back and watch all those classics. It's hard enough keeping up with the new ones! I'm a big fan of the Saw and Texas Chainsaw franchise (even if some would call them cheap- I don't care; they're great). It's a long list, really. I could go on for hours!

Lunatika: I’ve read that you’re a great fan of Stephen King, does his work influence your games? In which way? Stephen King's work influences me in every single way. I'm not much of a fanboy when it comes to anything else, but with King, I just love everything he does. He is my spiritual guru.

I always say my aim is to become a "Stephen King of gaming". I want my name to be associated with horror, to be instantly recognised... but at the moment even my closest friends struggle when they try to pronounce it;) In hindsight, I think I should've gone for a nickname (like that guy, Suda 51), because seriously- who's ever gonna remember "Remigiusz Michalski"?

Lunatika: What do you think of videogames as an art form? What do you think a game must have in order to be considered an “art game”? It's possible, that's for sure. I wouldn't say my games are necessarily it, but I've come across titles that came very close to what people usually think of as art- Dear Esther, The Path, Shadow Of The Colossus etc. But of course, it all depends on how you perceive art. I often like to think that ALL games are a form of art, whether you blast zombies' faces off with a shotgun in Dead Island, solve puzzles in I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream or ride into the sunset in Red Dead Redemption. Maybe it's the "art" that's changed. A painting of a vase will no longer excite anyone, will it? Those days are gone. And I'm glad in a way, because that's progress. We can't stay in one place forever- it's important to move on. It's just that we chose to move on towards a new medium, one that gives us freedom to decide. And that's the beauty of games- that interaction, that freedom to do what we want and have fun with it. After all, who said art can't be fun?

Screenshot of Let's Play Dead

Lunatika: Some may say graphic adventures and truly horror games are “dying”, what’s your opinion about that? Do you like the new movie-like approach some developers are taking? (Heavy Rain and The Walking Dead are would examples of what I’m talking about) And what do you think about “mainstream” horror games such as Alan Wake, Dead Space or F.E.A.R.? I think adventure games need to progress, and the likes of The Walking Dead and Heavy Rain are the step in the right direction, and it seems they've sparked up mainstream's interest in the genre. It's hard to make an exciting horror adventure. There's only as far as clicking on the screen will take you. But that's not to say that ALL games need enormous budgets (like Heavy Rain). While I love great graphics, they're not everything. It's probably easier for developers like me to take risks because we haven't spent millions of dollars on motion capture, Hollywood voice actors or high resolution backgrounds... but I would still like to see AAA games doing something unexpected more often. For me, the worst thing about those big games is repetition and predictability.

And let's not forget the Slender Man games! A new genre has been born, whether it was Amnesia or Slender that started it, it's probably here to stay, especially with games such as Outlast soon to be released. While they have little to do with "adventure games", they are a good example of horror done right. They're scary as hell, and that's the point. I'd love to implement some of their mechanics in my next project. It's definitely something I'm giving a lot of thought at the moment.

Lunatika: If you have to choose one, and ONLY ONE, horror game you really like, which one would it be? Why?Well, that's a hard one... I was going to say Silent Hill, but after some thinking I realized that before Silent Hill there was one game that really affected me and evoked the kind of fear I've never ever felt again- Elvira 2. I know, it's a bit silly. These days it might seem funny rather than scary. But back then, when I was maybe 10 years old, it was so fucking frightening I had to stop looking at the screen at times... I would spend hours and hours trying to figure out what to do, often replaying the whole thing from the start. But I never beat it.

Lunatika: Finally what are your future projects? Any horror game in the works?

There is something... But it's still in early experimental phase. I thought I'd give you an exclusive first-look screenshots, although it will be a long time before it's finished. It might even look completely different then! But anyway, yeah, the work title is "Let's Play Dead".